Challenges to successfully implementing DEIB initiatives

- You know, I often have clients tell me they feel stuck with their diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging strategy. They don't know how to measure success or how to move their strategy forward, if they even have one. If this has been your experience, you're not alone. This can feel frustrating, especially after you've made a public commitment to do to work, while your employees are holding you accountable. Oftentimes, my recommendation is to go back to square one. So let's identify where the barriers or resistance to change exists and, ultimately, work through them to implement a sustainable DEIB strategy. We'll start with the skepticism of the necessity for DEIB initiatives. Perhaps there are leaders or team members who feel the organization is perfectly fine the way it is. There's no need to change or shift how and who you hire or promote. Well, this can be very challenging, because you ideally want all employees to be advocates and champions for this work. It can't rest solely on the shoulders of human resources, employee resource groups, or a diversity leader. This work requires a full team effort. Helping all employees understand how they can play a part in shaping the organization's culture will be key to gain their buy-in and support early on, And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the challenges diversity practitioners have reported experiencing. Not only are they experiencing high levels of burnout, but their reporting structure has also caused a barrier to their success. If DEIB is truly a company-wide and organizational initiative, then your diversity leader should report directly to the CEO. This role is just as important as all of the roles in the C-suite leadership. And not only should the CEO be the main champion for this work, but they should also know what's happening in real time with no filters. Let's explore this further. Diversity work can become a bit filtered when it reports through human resources, and not all HR professionals are experienced or trained in DEIB work, so it shouldn't necessarily be assigned or aligned to the HR leader. DEIB and HR should be in partnership in their work and efforts. An effective DEIB strategy will rely heavily on employee demographics and on the success of recruiting, hiring, compensation, benefits, performance management, which are generally managed by the HR department. The final challenge to consider is threefold, does your DEIB leader have all of the necessary resources to create and implement a successful DEIB strategy? Those resources are simply people, time and budget. Limitations on any or all of these components will not only create barriers for the DEIB leader, but will increase their frustration with truly being effective in their role, resulting in high turnover in the diversity department and lacking the required focus on DEIB initiatives. Many DEIB leaders have resigned from their position because they've experienced a lack of commitment from business leaders in these three areas. This work deserves a robust budget, ample time commitment by all involved, and a DEIB team representative of the organization's size. Incentives to advocate for DEIB should be intrinsic, but not all managers are on the same path of understanding and acceptance. This is why setting specific company-wide and departmental DEIB goals is an important part of the strategy. Establishing measurable goals leads to accountability and, ultimately, consequences. There really are no shortcuts to take, as this work is truly an ever-evolving, ever-changing journey, not just a sprint to the finish line.